Stories from George Washington's Ferry Farm and Historic Kenmore

Grounds

Historic Kenmore and George Washington’s Ferry Farm experienced a snowstorm on Wednesday, March 21, 20118. Our staff took these photos of the snowfall from around the Lewis and Washington homes.

View of the front of the reproduction Washington house.

The house’s period-correct 18th century paint is called “Spanish brown.”

Actually built after the Civil War, the “Surveyor’s Shed”, incorrectly thought to be Washington’s surveying office, stands next to the reproduction Washington house.

The Washington house sits on the building’s original location atop a bluff looking west toward the Rappahannock River.

The old Ferry Road that led from Kings Highway down to the ferry crossing at the river.

Snow sculpture

The work yards behind the Washington house.

The west front of Kenmore.

The reproduction kitchen building at Kenmore.

Kenmore’s gardens.

Bricks under the snow.

The east front of Kenmore.

Snow pile on a portico column.

We also setup a timelapse camera at the Ferry Farm Visitors Center to capture the snowfall over the course of the storm. Closely watch the pine trees in the video below and you can see their branches droop down as the heavy wet snow weighs them down and then raise back up as the snow started to melt late in the day.

While the various restorations of Kenmore itself over the years are usually the star attraction for visitors to the site, there was another restoration, equally as important, that occurred on the property in its early years as a museum. Kenmore’s gardens are well-known for their beauty now, but when the Kenmore Association acquired the property in the 1920s, the grounds were in a sad state. It would take generations of work and ingenuity from a variety of people and groups to return the gardens to their former glory.

Perhaps the most important moment in the history of Kenmore’s gardens was when the Garden Club of Virginia decided to tackle them as their first-ever restoration project in 1929. The Garden Club established Virginia Garden Week specifically to raise funds for the project. Their success in both completing the first restoration of Kenmore’s gardens, and in creating a significant annual event across the Commonwealth of Virginia lead to more than 50 historic garden restorations since, and the celebration of its 83rd Historic Garden Week next week.

In 1940, the next phase of Kenmore’s garden restoration began when the Garden Club agreed to fund the implementation of designs by the renowned Southern landscape architect Charles Gillette. His plans included the “secret garden” area in the northeast corner of the grounds, the brick wall that currently surrounds the property, and Kenmore’s iconic brick gate on Winchester Street. Gillette would continue his work at Kenmore into the 1950s.

Page 1 of a letter from Hetty Harrison to Annie Fleming Smith dated June 26, 1940 informing the Kenmore Association that the Garden Club of Virginia had selected Kenmore as its restoration project and that renowned Southern landscape architect Charles Gillette would provide the design.

Page 2 of the Harrison-Smith letter

Ceremonial tree-planting on the Kenmore grounds, 1938.

Most recently, the Garden Club of Virginia undertook another restoration of the gardens in 1992. The Club remains a vital supporter of Kenmore’s landscape efforts to this day.

During Historic Garden Week, enjoy Kenmore’s gardens and experience the house in a new way! On Tuesday, April 26, try a specialty tour highlighting one of three topics—the restoration of Kenmore at 11:00 a.m. and 2:00 p.m., American Revolution at Noon and 3:00 p.m., and ceramics at 1:00 p.m. and 4:00 p.m. For more information and to view the specialty tours monthly schedule, click here.

Scenes from a recent autumn stroll around George Washington’s Ferry Farm. This semester’s Fleming-Smith Scholar Courtney Kuzemchak, a student at the University of Mary Washington, captured these seasonal images. You can see photos of Ferry Farm in winter here and a video from summer here.

The visitor center at Ferry Farm built in the 1960s.

Sunshine and shade.

The Great Oak Pavilion was built in 2005 by the Timber Framers Guild and Virginia Military Institute.

The so-called “Surveyor’s Shed,” long-held by local legend to be George’s surveying office, actually dates from the late 1800s.

A flag marking one stop on the self-guided iPad tour of the Ferry Farm grounds.

Historic Kenmore’s beautiful grounds and gardens require much work to remain beautiful. On a recent morning, staff mowed and weeded flower beds in the unending effort to make the flowers and grounds look their best.

About a month ago on “Lives & Legacies,” we shared a gallery of photos showing snow-covered Historic Kenmore and George Washington’s Ferry Farm in years past. That post especially focused on snowy scenes of Kenmore. With snow from yesterday’s storm still on the ground under beautiful sun-filled blue skies, we thought we ought to share a few more snowy photos with special focus on Ferry Farm this time.

Flags fly over Ferry Farm.

Fredericksburg across the Rappahannock.

Snow-covered stones marking one corner of the Washington’s house site.

Geese landing.

A gaggle of geese visiting the farm.

Archaeological dig site remains closed for winter.

Little friends.

Deer track.

Snow laying on some rail fencing.

Snow on magnolia leaves.

Sparkling water droplets fall to the ground as icicles hanging on the visitor center melt.

This year, we’ve not had a particularly photographic snow at George Washington’s Ferry Farm or Historic Kenmore… yet. Snow eventually will come but, until then, we’re sharing some of our best snowy photos from last year and from ten years ago.